20 BULLETIN 648, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



A further study of Table VI shows that on the larger farms the op- 

 erators live in much better houses and secure much greater values of 

 food products from the farm than do those on the smaller farms. 

 Between the extreme size groups the values of family food furnished 

 by the farm varies from $267 to $612, and the average rental value of 

 the houses from $33 to $306. 



On the farms of the smallest farm group the value of family living 

 obtained from the farm actually exceeded the net income from all 

 other sources by 39 per cent, but on those of the largest farm group 

 the family living furnished equaled only 38 per cent of all of the 

 other net receipts. In other words, on the small farms the family 

 living obtained is an all-important factor, while on the larger farms 

 it is relatively a secondary consideration. 



Another method of measuring the profits of the farm is to sub- 

 tract the value of the farmer's labor from the farm income and call 

 the remainder returns on the capital. Figured in this way, and 

 not considering the item of family living obtained, these farms 

 returned an average of 6.2 per cent on the investment. On the two 

 groups of smaller farms the per cent returns were lowest, while on 

 the fourth group, or good-sized family farms, they were highest. 



QUALITY OF FARM BUSINESS. 



CROP YIELDS. 



On farms of a given size the yields secured constitute perhaps 

 the most important factor in determining the farm profits. . In 

 Table VII the farms are grouped according to the average yield of 

 crops. The group of farms that have the lowest yields have an 

 average crop index 1 of 69, which means that the crop yields equaled 

 but 69 per cent of the average yields secured by all of the farms. 

 This group of farms returned average farmer's earnings 2 of $586, 

 while for the other groups the crop indexes were 92, 104, and 126, 

 and the farmer's earnings $708, $840, and $1,061, respectively. But 

 the farmer's earnings are largely determined by the size of the farm. 

 To eliminate the element of size and see the effect of crop yields 

 independently, the index of earnings 2 and the per cent return on 

 investment are shown. The group of farms with the lowest yields 

 gave an index of earnings of 80, or in other words, farmer's earnings 



1 The crop index represents the relative yields of all crops on any farm or group of 

 farms as compared with the average yield of all crops on all the farms in the survey, 

 the latter being expressed as 100. For method of calculating, see Department of Agri- 

 culture Bulletin 341, p. 75. The index here used«is weighted, the acreage of each crop 

 being weighted in proportion to the average amount of man labor expended on an acre of 

 that crop. This weighting is necessary because of the wide difference in the relative 

 intensity of the crops grown and of the different proportions in which these crops are 

 combined on the different farms. 



2 See definitions in footnote, p. 13, 





